For the VIP arts set, the return of both Art Basel Paris and Design Miami.Paris might already ring as old news, as exclusive peeks at their booths were allowed from as early as this Tuesday. Still, as the former and biggest of the two events officially opens its doors to the public today, continuing at Paris's Grand Palais until Sunday, October 26, with the latter on view inside Hôtel de Maisons through the same date, we thought it was the right time to bring you a design-driven edit of the projects and names you'll hear more and more about in the coming days.
Gathering 206 galleries from 41 different countries and territories, including 65 platforms hailing from its base of France and 29 newcomers, Art Basel Paris is sure to reunite some of the world's most forward-thinking talents across its four sectors (Galerie, Emergence, Premise, and Magazines) and ever-exciting public program of cross-city activations and conversations. With 40 additional design exhibitions to check out at the third iteration of Design Miami.Paris — which focuses on collectible works between the modernist and contemporary period, and even makes room for colossal installations in its Design at Large section — there are no limits to creation.
To ensure you'd remember each of the below Design Miami.Paris and Art Basel Paris standouts for longer than their duration, we purposefully chose to spotlight projects whose relevance, we think, will outlive the fairs. Selected for their unique contribution to material and craftsmanship innovation, or, instead, for their ability to encourage us to think differently about the domestic space, its function, and the influence it has on our lives, whether directly or more subtly, every showcase listed below tells us something about the future of decor.
What to See at Art Basel Paris and Design Miami.Paris
We've rounded up the only Design Miami.Paris and Art Basel Paris must-sees you truly can't miss this week, besides the French capital's most beautiful restaurants and cafes, that is. And all in just one list!
Uchronia: Day Bed at Hôtel Plaza Athénée — Can Dopamine Decor Aid Your Repose?
There's never a dull day in the office of whimsical design studio Uchronia, and their collaboration with Dutch practice Palet means that, thanks to this bed, there won't be in yours either.
Hôtel Plaza Athénée, 25 Avenue Montaigne, 75008 Paris, France
When I began to browse for things to see at Art Basel Paris and Design Miami.Paris 2025, I instantly remembered noticing a bed-shaped, colorful, and quirky installation tucked away somewhere in one of the French capital's leafy gardens. Even just from the exaggerated scale and vibrancy of the piece, I should have known where it came from. The brainchild of Livingetc's favorite interior design studios, the ever-dreamy Uchronia, and long-time collaborators Gilles de Brock and Jaap Giesen's striking glazed ceramic tile brand, Palet, Daybed transforms the Cour Jardin of Hôtel Plaza Athénée, one of Paris's most coveted hotels, into an experiential fantasy, and fittingly.
Echoing the natural palette of its suggestive location, the activation reframes the modern bedroom area from an often overlooked, personal space for repose into an en-plain-air stage for artisanal and artistic invention, giving free rein to imagination. To say it in French, there is a certain funfair-esque je ne sais quoi to Palet's red and green canopy structure, its 'broken' blocks resembling the spinning arms of the most adrenaline-filled of rides. Crafted to order in the Netherlands, the podium and vertical structures are complemented by a clover-shaped headboard custom-made by Treca, bed linens by Le Jacquard Français, floral curtains and cushions by Misia, and Seigneurie's Chromatic paints. Perhaps it's time for dopamine decor to step into intimate territory and lend its rule-breaking backdrop to our dreams. Who knows, maybe joyful decor can affect us positively even while we sleep?
To November 11. Free access.
BANK: Duyi Han at Art Basel Paris — Is Looking Back the Main Road to New, Inspiring Futures?
In artist and designer Duyi Han's cinematic installations, Chinese heritage is subtly reworked into colorful, sensory environments that appear to belong to a distant future.
Art Basel Paris, Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France
Had it not been for my research on design-led Art Basel Paris highlights, I probably still wouldn't know the work of Duyi Han. Presented by Shanghai and New York-based gallery BANK, the artist and designer's solo presentation at the fair epitomizes his ability to inject emotion into every environment he creates. With a practice informed by philosophy, fashion's visual culture, and the trial-and-error process that sits at the core of pharmaceutical science, Han's immersive installations, and in particular, the two at the heart of BANK's Art Basel Paris booth, Ordinance of the Subconscious Treatment (2021) and Visions of Bloom (2024), rely on elements such as light, color, embroidered textile motifs, and a sensory, emotional experience of furniture and architecture to make visitors aware of the function these play in their lives. The first of these works, more rooted in his Chinese heritage, looks like a living room punctuated by classically inspired homeware with a futuristic, almost dreamlike twist, fully inscribed in patterns taken from Buddhist and Taoist temples. The latter projects visuals informed by both the natural and the cultural world onto an intricately furnished room with wallpaper and eye-catchingly decorated furniture, sewing the gap between the organic and the artificial, the inside and the outdoors. Together, they reveal the power of design to draw from the past, human experience, and the subconscious to make way for new worlds.
To October 26, 1am to 7pm. BANK, Booth 1.M10 (Emergence section, first floor balcony). Book your tickets.
Harry Nuriev: Objets Trouvés at Art Basel Paris — What If We Stopped Creating Anew, and Reinterpreted What's There Already?
Known for his shape-shifting approach to design, with "Objets Trouvés", Harry Nuriev lets the audience mold the installation into shape.
Art Basel Paris, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, 14 rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris, France
Avid Livingetc readers may remember Harry Nuriev for his recent, metal-clad design for London's "bistro of the future", Noisy Oyster. Still, the Crosby Studios' founder is known for reshaping his idea of creativity from night to day, and Objets Trouvés, a captivating installation part of Art Basel Paris's public programme, makes his desire to break free from artistic convention more evident than ever. Set inside a chapel on the grounds of the Beaux-Arts school, the piece comprises a number of supermarket boxes, which the artist and designer has filled. But rather than simply being invited to look at them, visitors are actively encouraged to bring an item they are no longer interested in keeping with them, and leave it in one of the boxes after taking a piece in exchange. Surrounded by timeless frescoes and marbles, the exchangable protagonists of Nuriev's Objets Trouvés ("found objects") act as a reminder of the polluting logics of mass-production and consumption, all while shifting the attention from the lifeless collection the creative director assembled into a grid into the first place onto the one passersby will contribute to create over the course of the coming days.
To October 26, 10am to 7pm. Free access.
Friedman Benda at Design Miami.Paris — Does True Innovation Actually Start With Materials?
Installation view of Friedman Benda's booth at Design Miami.Paris, including contributions from Fernando Laposse,
Design Miami. Paris, Hôtel de Maisons, 51 Rue de l'Université, 75007 Paris, France
Coinciding with the 2025 iteration of Art Basel Paris, Friedman Benda's Design Miami.Paris booth, part of the event's Design at Large section, stands out for the deeply sculptural, textural essence of the furniture pieces gathered by it, and its flair for out-of-the-box material innovation. Hailing from Mexico City, Fernando Laposse has crafted his tesselated Totomoxtle Cabinet from corn husk marquetry, solid beech, and brass hardware. Made from oak and walnut veneer, Joris Laarman's just-unveiled, aerodynamic Ply Loop Console appears ready to take off, while Formafantasma's four-part, cherry wood, LED, and acrylic Panel Lamp floats in the room, hanging from above. There are pieces that, like in the case of Carmen D'Apollonio's whimsical, mushroom-reminiscent lamps or Misha Kahn's bronze chair One Shoe, A Fold of Love Handle, a Rogue Dog Ball, look as if they are slowly melting to the ground. Others, like Andile Dyalvane's glazed earthenware vases, seem to be blooming, opening up into two parts. Long story short, if there's one thing Friedman Benda's participation in Design Miami.Paris proves, as captured by Frida Escobedo's chainmail-topped Creek Chair 02, is that in contemporary decor, rules are made to be undone.
To October 26, Friday and Saturday, 11am to 7pm, Sunday, 11am to 6pm. Book your tickets.
Designers of Tomorrow by Apple at Design Miami.Paris — Is Uplifting Furniture the Way Forward in Interiors?
A glass piece created by duo Marie & Alexandre for the Apple-powered initiative "Designers of Tomorrow".
Design Miami. Paris, Hôtel de Maisons, 51 Rue de l'Université, 75007 Paris, France
The inaugural edition of Apple's Designers of Tomorrow initiative, running during Art Basel Paris as part of Design Miami. Paris's programming, invites the creative community to discover four studios and one-person practices whose works we will begin to see more and more of. Selected by Apple's VP of human interface design, Alan Dye, and VP of industrial design, Molly Anderson, in collaboration with designers Faye Toogood, Mathieu Lehanneur, Sabine Marcelis, and Samuel Ross, curator Aric Chen, archivist Hervé Lemoine, Ateliers de Paris founder Lyne Cohen-Solal, and Design Miami CEO Jen Roberts, the talents spotlighted embody how the union of craftmanship, innovation, and technology can help the design scene thrive and move forward. Presented in a dedicated group show at Hôtel de Maisons, the winning creations were realized with the support of one of Apple's newest products, the M5 iPad Pro.
Shanghai-based Duyi Han's two-part Noetrigram v0.9 mirror blends the classical, the contemporary, and the occult with its embroidered messages and slightly esoteric look. Marie & Alexandre's large-scale glass experimentation feels like the see-through answer to Buchanan Studio's iconic stainless steel cabinetry and accessories. Jolie Ngo's Lantern Vessel in Between Worlds and Table Lamp in Cherry Blossoms and Himalayan Salt feed into the whimsical, creaturesque aesthetic that's been taking over the industry recently, while Marco Campardo's Jello collection was inspired by, yes, butter — showing that, when it comes to textures, food can be as inspiring as art (hello, James Shaw!).
To October 26, Friday and Saturday, 11am to 7pm, Sunday, 11am to 6pm. Book your tickets.
Pièces à vivre at GALLERIA CONTINUA — Is Homeware More Than Just 'Stuff'?
Installation view of the collective group show "Pièces à vivre". In the picture: duo Ornaghi & Prestinari's "Bedroom".
GALLERIA CONTINUA Le Marais, 87 Rue du Temple, 75003 Paris, France
Founded in 1990, GALLERIA CONTINUA has long distinguished itself for its conceptual exhibitions pondering the continuum between art, design, and the way in which we live, their present and past. In the ongoing group show currently on display at its outpost in Le Marais, Pièces à vivre ("living spaces"), every room of the gallery has been turned into a specific domestic environment. In their Master Bedroom, artist duo Ornaghi & Prestinari look to the most intimate of rooms, making the disconnect between two partners' apparent connection and their emotional and mental alienation visible through a divider that separates the bed into two and out-of-sync lights that, positioned on either side and only turning on when the other one goes off, emphasize their inner clash. Legendary artist Ai Weiwei's design for the children's room references Mondrian through the two-dimensional piece Broadway Boogie Woogie, made entirely of LEGO bricks, capturing childhood as the groundwork for adults' ability for creation. Meanwhile, Eva Jospin recasts the balcony from an outdoor ornamental element to an indoor one, using the inner courtyard of the platform to let her nature-inspired vision of craft take center stage in a flying, magical portal.
The goal of the organizers is "to open contemporary art, not by simplifying it, but by anchoring it in what is close to us, in objects, spaces, and everyday gestures," they explain. In doing so, they invite the audience "to rethink the place of art in our lives — not as something distant or decorative, but as a companion in thought, emotion, and perception. The gallery becomes a home; the home becomes a work of art." And what better way to approach the year ahead than embracing a house renovation as a canvas for expression, joyfulness, and warmth?
To November 1, Tuesday to Saturday, 11am-7pm. Free to access.
Minimal at Bourse de Commerce — Can a Show Prove That in Art, Like in Decor, Less Is More?
Installation view of "Minimal", a group exhibition bringing together some of the 20th-century most influential artists to explore the enduring allure of simple lines and blocky color.
Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection, 2 Rue de Viarmes, 75001 Paris, France
A cross-continent survey exploring the rise, the meaning, as well as the visual manifestations of minimal art, Minimal at the Bourse de Commerce reunites over 52 artists from North and South America, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe into a transportative maze of color, texture, light games, and form. Curated by Jessica Morgan, director of the Dia Art Foundation, it isn't just worth stopping by to take a closer look at the historical outpost of Paris's Pinault Collection — an 18th-century, narratively frescoed dome renovated by groundbreaking Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Instead, across a large-scale selection of artworks such as towering geometrical sculptures, neon-powered installations, still life photography, performance stills, and more, Minimal reclaims the crucial influence that solid, abstract forms still hold in relation to the shaping and our perception of the world. From minimalism to maximalism, and every genre in between, when it comes to both art and interiors, before taking on a more complex structure, everything begins with a line. A shape. A motif. That's what the selection of masterpieces grouped for the occasion under the same roof, featuring contributions from the likes of Enzo Mari, Lee Ufan, and Dan Flavin, reminds us of implicitly. A lesson that, considering the recent rise of post-modernist furniture, its preference for "unusual forms and materials", makes it a must-see ahead of the year to come.
To January 21, Monday to Sunday, 11am to 7 pm, Friday to 9 pm. Book your tickets
Galerie Patrick Seguin at Design Miami. Paris and 5 Rue des Taillandiers — Is Soft-Mixed-Sharp the New Timeless?
Designed in the 1950s, these Jean Royère furniture pieces feel anachronistically contemporary, largely thanks to their balance of curves and structures.
Design Miami. Paris, Hôtel de Maisons, 51 Rue de l'Université, 75007 Paris, France; Galerie Patrick Seguin, 5 Rue des Taillandiers, 75011 Paris, France
Open since 1989 and situated in Paris's Bastille district, Galerie Patrick Seguin makes up for two of our Design Miami.Paris highlights this week. At the fair, Patrick and Laurence Seguin's platform brings a selection of 1950s furniture by Jean Royère, one of the most prominent figures in the 20th-century decorative arts movement, but don't be fooled by the collection's manufacturing date: from the pond-like, organic shape of the Forme Libre coffee table and the soft-mixed-sharp lines of his Trèfle armchairs, pairing leaf-shaped reclining backs with boldly angled armrests, to the avant-garde Table Ondulation, where the movement of a wavy wrought iron base is countered by the linear simplicity of its top, this Royère retrospective sets the tone for today's spirited reinvention of the timeless in decor.
Galerie Patrick Seguin's ongoing exhibition (to November 22) of pioneering architect and designer Charlotte Perriand's sculpturally sublime work, too, proves that mid-century modern furniture can stay true to its function-first aesthetics while also being playful. Curated by Saint Laurent's creative director Anthony Vaccarello in collaboration with the artist's estate, the initiative saw the exclusive re-edition of some of her most extraordinary designs, including never-published prototypes and rare one-offs. Among these are the sprawling and, seemingly, floating sofa Perriand conceived for the Japanese ambassador in Paris in 1967, a rosewood, cane, and Jin Thompson Thai silk whose seven-meter, ondulating base seems to hint at the wings of a bird. As well as her Indochina Guest Armchair of 1943, produced during her time in Vietnam and boasting a chromed tube, leather, and rosewood material pairing over a slanted body that rhymes with sophistication even today.
To October 26, Friday and Saturday, 11am to 7pm, Sunday, 11am to 6pm. Book your tickets. To November 22, 9am-7pm. Free access.
Autumn is now in full swing, and while the weather might be getting colder, the atmosphere in the creative industry is, let me tell you, hot, as shown by the just-terminated new edition of Frieze Week. Brimming with inventiveness worldwide, galleries and art institutions are taking turns showcasing the very best of today's talent. So, if you are having to pass on the above Art Basel Paris highlights, don't despair: you'll still find plenty of fascinating design exhibitions in London to keep you busy for the rest of the year.
